In a letter sent to Omar's lawyers, the committee says it asked the federal government not to send him back to Saudi Arabia until it has examined his case.

"The UN has no binding power over Canada, of course, but they do ask Canada to respect their decisions," said Stéphanie Valois, another lawyer representing Omar, in an interview with CBC Montreal's Daybreak on Wednesday morning.

"And in the last years, we've seen that Canada has respected the requests from the UN."

The man known as Omar has been held at the immigrant holding centre in Laval, Que., since July 26. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

Omar and his family flew to Chicago before crossing into Canada at Roxham Road in the spring.

The family filed asylum claims, but Omar's was rejected outright because he had withdrawn his previous claim to go and get his wife and children in Saudi Arabia before returning to Canada with them.

In his decision filed Tuesday, upholding the deportation order, Federal Court Judge Roger Lafrenière said Canadian law states refugee claimants are not allowed to file another claim once they withdraw.

Lafrenière said Omar didn't provide any documentation to back up his claim that he would be in danger should he return to Saudi Arabia.

Corrections

An earlier version of this story said the UN high commissioner for human rights was advocating for the stop in deportation. In fact, it was the UN Human Rights Committee.